Illusionary Tactics
by gacrux11
Summary: Bel/Fran drabbles. Because Belphegor and Fran find themselves in quite the mess when they realize just how hard they've fallen.
1. all the same

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _All the Same_ by Sick Puppies belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warning: M/M; bloodplay

A/N: A few drabbley song-shots on Bel/Fran – one of the pairings I find most difficult to write.

"_I don't mind where you come from, as long as you come to me."_

Fran frowned half-heartedly as he sunk down onto his bed at the Varia HQ. He'd just come back from a more difficult mission wherein he had quite a difficult time fighting his opponent. They had been on solid ground, after all, because he could see through illusions.

Despite that, Fran had still managed to accomplish his goal and make it back to the Varia – but he was having a difficult time disguising his injuries. He preferred to heal alone, despite Lussuria's healing capabilities. After all, weakness came in the form of concern and he didn't want his group (friends?) slowed down.

Fran supposed he really shouldn't have been surprised when Belphegor sauntered into his room with a twisted grin set upon his face.

"Did the frog get hurt?" He asked, looking him up and down.

"No," Fran said, keeping his voice monotone.

"Ushishishi – I smell the blood," Belphegor leaned in from where he stood in front of Fran and nuzzled his nose into his neck which might have been slightly endearing had it been anyone but the fake prince.

"Get off," Fran grumbled, giving a half-hearted push. His arms had been sliced to bits and it was getting mighty hard to keep up the front while using his illusion.

"Arms, right?" Belphegor lifted the sleeve and grinned as he touched the smooth, pallid flesh. Fran winced as the older boy ran a finger over a blue-ish vein and consequently over one of his injuries. The illusion wobbled when the blonde took to licking up his arm and then it finally broke when he bit into the skin just enough to bruise.

"That hurt," Fran stated, frowning slightly as Belphegor looked up at him with a sneer.

"It was supposed to, stupid frog," The blonde glanced down at Fran's injuries and then back up. "I knew you were bleeding." For some reason, the older boy seemed awfully proud of that.

"Idiot fake prince," Fran grumbled, sucking in a quiet breath and Belphegor moved from his arm up to his neck.

"Shishi, shut up or I'll kill you, frog," A quick swipe of his silvery blade and the small slice in Fran's neck was beading crimson. Belphegor grinned further and ran a tediously slow finger across the slit before lifting the same finger to his mouth and licking away the blood. Fran watched carefully; observing Belphegor's tongue absently, hardly noticing the blonde's other hand snake around his neck to play with the teal hairs.

"Frog," Bel murmured as he leaned down again to press his mouth to the shell of Fran's ear.

"What?" The younger teen asked, feeling oddly sleepy. Blood loss, perhaps. He still didn't have bandages on his wounds after all.

"I don't care where you come from, but – shishi – if you ever get hurt come to me and I'll make you feel _better_," Belphegor whispered the last word almost suggestively but Fran overlooked it in favour of watching the older boy slink away and out the door, tracing each step as he went along.

Belphegor was many things, Fran decided, but simple definitely was not one of them.


	2. on it

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _On It _by Mindless Self Indulgence belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warning: M/M; slight language

A/N: I swear, all of MSI's songs are written for Belphegor. No joke. Check 'em out and you'll see what I mean.

"_Better watch out when you get me going."_

Belphegor was fairly certain the stupid frog knew he was just _asking _for it. A knife to the back was no longer an effective method of punishment, the blonde decided, picking up his pace to catch the teal-haired bastard by the coat.

Unsuspecting, Fran was indeed dragged to the forest floor to come face to face with a dangerously annoyed Belphegor.

"Hm, did I upset the fake prince?" He asked, fuelling Belphegor's annoyance.

"No, you're just getting to be boring target practice," The blonde retorted, watching as Fran's eyebrow quirked ever-so-slightly.

"Bel-senpai is scary – but his brother is scarier," Fran decided that he was two things. One, beyond insane for provoking an unstable Belphegor and two, bored out of his fucking mind.

"Better watch it, stupid frog, or you'll have a knife in the back of your head," Belphegor started as he stalked forward with the grin of a cat.

"Ah, but the hat would block it." Fran replied. The grin on the blonde's face faltered before he ripped the hat off the younger boy's head and pointed a knife at his forehead.

"I'll kill you." And for once, there was no twisted grin; no lilting voice. Just dead seriousness.

"Will you?" Fran asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Che," Belphegor lowered the knife and gave his collarbone a quick slice, drawing a small amount of blood from the wound before launching off into the trees again. Fran was quick to follow, but still slightly uncertain of the odd encounter that had just taken place.

Fran was sure Belphegor would at _least _waste a knife on him.

But he hadn't.

So either Fran meant very little to the older blonde or... quite a lot. But he supposed would rather ignore it either way, so it didn't matter any.

Yet.


	3. until we bleed

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _Until We Bleed _by Lykke Li belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warnings: M/M; possibly OOC

A/N: Because even Belphegor and Fran need a little fluff every once in a while.

"_I need you to need me."_

The oddity of their relationship was not just that it was wanton and reckless but unjustifiably _there, _it was give and take. This was completely strange because neither Belphegor nor Fran liked giving anything to anyone but would gladly take what they don't need.

One would suppose that was how they flourished because while they could take all they wanted, they were subsequently giving the other a sensation of belonging because they felt needed.

Every lick; every bead of blood drawn made Fran feel wanted.

Every unconscious stare; every lazy taunt made Belphegor feel needed

But there were times that they didn't get what they wanted. This happened more often to Belphegor because Fran was so good at keeping his emotions and thoughts at bay and concealed that sometimes the older boy would be _this _close to breaking down. But of course, Belphegor didn't break down in the way others did; he went completely berserk.

Still, just before he did so, he would usually go to Fran and he would calm him down.

Usually.

"What do you want? It's late," Fran mumbled, squinting into the dark to pick out the figure that had just stepped through the door but instead of replying, Belphegor merely sauntered over and crawled onto the bed. His cold hands pulled back the covers and slid up his shirt, scratching at the soft skin.

"Bel," Fran warned, sitting up against the headboard and putting a hand against the blonde's shoulder.

"What?" Belphegor hissed, angry at the halt of movements.

"I don't want to do this now." The teal-haired teen said releasing the shoulder he'd held captive to stretch slightly.

"Well I _do_." Belphegor snapped, grabbing the smaller boy's wrists and leaning in to slide his tongue into Fran's mouth.

"Belphegor." Fran warned again, ripping his hands free. "Don't do that."

"Fran, shut the fuck up," The blonde snarled and in one smooth motion had the smaller teen straddled beneath him. He reached a hand up to knot into Fran's hair and then another to slip under his shirt and slide across the delicate skin again. Fran made to protest, but Belphegor bit down on his neck and silenced him, shuddering delightedly when he felt the smaller body beneath him tremor.

He didn't care why.

Belphegor's hand snaked to his hip as he pulled out a knife and made a slit. The blonde smiled manically and lapped up the spilling blood, decidedly leaving another slash and yet another on Fran's stomach.

"Belphegor!" Fran, on the other hand, was actually terrified. When Belphegor did things like that it either sent him over the edge or scared him. The blonde looked up, startled by the alarm in Fran's voice.

"What?" He asked quietly, relinquishing his hold on the knife to slide off and watch as Fran sat up – only a little wobbly – and stared at his lap.

"Bel... you can't just do that." Fran muttered. "I'm not your victim."

"You never were." Belphegor snapped, glowering at the door for lack of anywhere else to look.

"Then don't make it seem like I am." Fran retorted.

" You–" Belphegor paused mid-thought and looked at Fran cautiously. "I just need you to need me."

"You're an idiot," Fran decided, sending him a pointed look. Belphegor snorted and glanced back at the door, still uncertain when Fran flopped back down onto the bed and grabbed the blonde's sleeve.

"What?"

"Sleep with me." Fran deadpanned.

"Kinky," Belphegor snickered, settling down beside the teal-haired teen with a hand over his waist, rubbing almost gently at the cuts he'd put there.


	4. feel it in my bones

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _Feel It In My Bones _by DJ Tiesto belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warnings: M/M; alcohol

A/N: Heard the song and decided it was the opposite of B/F. So I then challenged myself to _make _it B/F. lolfailchallengewut.

"_Blow by blow; I didn't see it coming – Blow by blow; sucker punched."_

One too many shots of Crown Royal, Fran decided, as he attempted to scale the stairs that led to his room where he hoped to pass out in peace.

One step up; good. He was stable.

Three steps up; tremors in his knees. They felt like jello. Christ, what did Lussuria give him anyway?

Five steps up; world spinning. But he was still standing.

Six steps up; black dots. He felt sick.

Eight steps up and he felt his foot slip and he was just about to lose his footing when a pair of spindly hands steadied his waist.

"Shishi," Damn it. Things were going so well. "Froggy drank too much."

"So did you," Fran retorted, foggily remembering Belphegor take more shots than he could count on one hand. "How are you still standing?"

"I'm not," The blonde said simply and dropped to the stairs – consequently dragging Fran down with him.

"I want to get to my room, fake prince," The younger of the two stated, attempting to stand again.

"Stupid frog, you can't stand up." And it was no wonder seeing as Belphegor's arms were locked around his waist like bars. Fran twitched.

"I could if you'd let go, senpai," At that the blonde snorted raised a hand to flip him off. "Let go," Fran mumbled as he tried to squirm his way out of the steely grip.

"You're an annoying brat," Belphegor muttered while leaning back against the railing. "Just stay still." So Fran did – he was too drunk to mind much.

But he _wasn't _too drunk to mind when Belphegor started trailing a finger along his collarbone and down his chest to come to rest just above his hip.

"Senpai," He drawled, "I think that's molesting."

"But the prince doesn't care," Well apparently not. "The frog is cute tonight."

"...You're really drunk." Fran decided, but his words struck a chord somewhere deep, deep down.

"Shishi." And while they fell asleep like that – relatively content – they would regret it when they found out Lussuria took pictures.


	5. secret weapon

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _Secret Weapon _by Kesha belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warnings: M/M

A/N: This popped into my head when I was listening to Secret Weapon by Kesha – and I'm not very pleased with it. But you know. Can't win 'em all.

"_There's so much you don't know."_

The mission had started out predictably.

Belphegor teased Fran, Fran teased back (got a few knives to the back) and the generally normal atmosphere prevented any curiosity about the mission to arise. Had they done a little digging on their target, they may have discovered his ties to the Varia and thus realized that Fran himself was marked for assassination.

They found the warehouse their target – Adriano – worked at and waited until he left at around eleven pm. Perfect timing, Belphegor had grinned, looking like a predator under the streetlights.

They moved in quickly but steadily; waiting until the tall man had reached a particularly dark alley to start their attack. Fran split off around the other end of the backstreet to cut Adriano off while Belphegor continued to move in from behind.

Just as they were about to make their move – everything went wrong.

They had gone into the mission assuming Adriano knew nothing of the Varia, Fran, or Belphegor. In the end, that slight miscalculation nearly cost them the entire Varia HQ.

It happened so fast Fran almost hadn't realized it had even occurred, but their target had recognized him in the dim light and launched forward to seize him by the throat and shove him up against the alley wall. Belphegor's grin dropped and he was quick to throw a knife but Adriano turned on the spot and used the green-haired teen in his grasp as a human shield.

Further enraged, Belphegor stalked forward a few steps only to falter at the words that were spoken.

"Come any closer and I'll snap his neck." It wasn't an empty threat, Belphegor decided, distinctly hearing Fran's quiet struggle for oxygen.

"Shishi, why would you think I care about that peasant?" The blonde enquired, grinning ruthlessly. Adriano didn't answer. Instead, he restricted Fran's airways even further. He seemed to bask in the sounds of suffocation.

_Sick bastard, _Fran thought, trying to appear calm despite the chokehold and the knives in his back. He didn't start panicking until he started to see black dots encroaching on the edge of his vision and all he could focus on was that ugly, twisted face.

Then there was a distinct snapping sound and Fran struggled against the one-handed hold again, realizing his index finger had just been broken. There was another snap and middle finger went, too. He wondered briefly if Belphegor was just watching or if he actually planned on helping him.

Adriano held his neck firmly with his left hand while he pulled out a threateningly curved knife and raised Fran's right arm. The green-haired boy went to yank his arm away but–

_Shlish._

And that was the knife through his wrist. A straight, clean cut that could ultimately kill him if left untreated. Then there was crunch and Fran found himself bleeding out on the damp alley cement, struggling to catch his breath. Vaguely, he could see Belphegor slicing their target into bits but he didn't bother to pay much attention. His focus was the fact he could very well bleed out, right there, in that very alley way.

Unfortunately, he was already suffering from blood loss.

The black dots came back and Fran struggled against his leaden muscles to stand only to find the dots get worse and finally impair him of sight until he settled back on the ground again.

"Froggy," Belphegor was leaning over him, holding his skewered wrist in the air. Fran found he couldn't answer properly. "Frog, get up." The blonde demanded.

"Can't."

"Fran," The green-haired teen figured that was probably the first and last time he'd hear Belphegor actually say his real name. "Get up."

"'Kay." So he did. With Belphegor's help, of course. They stumbled their way through the backstreets while Belphegor tried to get a hold of the Varia HQ and when he finally did, Fran was already beginning to pass out.

"Just hurry the fuck up – I think he's actually dying." Were the last words he heard before finally collapsing.

When he woke, Lussuria was lounging in a chair at his bedside and sunlight was filtering through the drawn curtains in his room.

"Ah, you're awake!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together gleefully.

"What happened?" Fran asked, trying to ignore Lussuria's over-enthusiasm.

"Belphegor called Squalo and he sent Levi out to collect you two," He explained, "It's a good thing too, because you were _this _close to kicking the bucket." Fran frowned slightly as Lussuria pinched his thumb and index finger to clarify just how close _this _was.

"How's the fake prince?" Fran asked after realizing he wasn't wearing the frog hat.

"Oh he's fine!" Lussuria smiled, "I think the only thing wrong with him was the worry."

"...Worry? Bel-senpai? Are we talking about the same guy?" Fran asked drily, watching as Lussuria leaned in as though to tell him a secret.

"Belphegor was in and out of here for the past few days, waiting for you to wake up ~" The flamboyant man whispered, giggling at the cynical look Fran gave him. "It's true!" Lussuria insisted before stretching and heading to the door.

"I'll let you rest for now, but remember what I said!" And with that he was gone, leaving a rather puzzled Fran alone with his thoughts.


	6. show me love

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _Show Me Love _by Tatu belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warnings: M/M; graphic

"_Like a game of pick-up sticks played by fucking lunatics."_

It was, in essence, a game they played – one that danced dangerously close to the edge of something and more.

"Don't touch me," Fran drawled as Belphegor's hands snaked around his waist.

"Shishi, don't order the prince around, peasant," The blonde snapped in a lilting tone.

"Fake princes aren't real princes," The green-haired teen stated. He definitely wasn't in the mood for Belphegor's mindfuckery.

"Shut up, frog," He retorted, nosing aside Fran's hair to get to the crook of his unmarred neck.

"I'm not joking around, Bel-senpai," Completely monotonous. Fran imagined that was why Belphegor was so obsessed with getting a reaction out of him.

"Neither am I." The older boy's voice dropped an octave or two as he shoved the smaller of the two backward and into the wall.

"What are you going to do now?" Fran wondered aloud.

"Find out what got under the frog's skin," The blonde hummed as he ran a fingernail along his jaw, testing the elasticity of the skin there before grinning.

"Hm? What does the fake prince mean?" Shit.

"The boss said something to you, didn't he?" Bingo.

Xanxus did say something to him – something regarding the last group he'd been part of. Something that had winded him so hard emotionally it was _almost _hard to keep up the charade of unaffectedness.

"No, he just explained our next mission. Stupid sempai, you're imagining things." Good. No differing tones in his voice.

"Ushishishi," Something told him the fake prince wasn't so easily fooled. How unfortunate. "The frog shouldn't lie."

"Whatever. What would a bloodthirsty moron know anyway?" And he wasn't _technically _lying. Xanxus had explained their mission after speaking with him about his former family.

Fran hardly recognized the pale hand clamp down on his shoulder and squeeze so hard it would definitely bruise.

"Does the frog want to die?" He asked as he pulled out a blade and dangled it in front of his face; taunting. "Because the prince would gladly kill him."

"You're not smart enough to kill a fly, senpai," A knife was promptly sunk into his forearm.

"Care to rethink that?"

"...Nope."

Stab, stab, stab.

"No?"

"No."

Stab, stab, stab.

"Ow, Bel-senpai, that hurt." He drawled.

"You're really upset aren't you, froggy?" Meep.

"So we're back to this again?" But yes, he was quite angry at Xanxus' boldness. No one had the right to ask about his past. No-fucking-body. Long story short, he was furious.

Shit happens, he decided.

"Geh – ouch." Belphegor collected the knives from Fran's back and used one to tip his chin up so the blonde could see his face and his sneer had disappeared.

"The frog shouldn't lie to his prince."

And then the supposed prince leaned in and pecked him on the mouth, lingering there just long enough to laugh against his lips and breathe in Fran's scent.

All in all, it was a rather terrifying experience. Perhaps he'd rethink lying to Belphegor in the future. Perhaps.

"Bel-senpai," A pause. "You're a fucking lunatic."

"Shishi – who would the prince be if he wasn't?"


	7. the battle

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _The Battle _by Bim belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warning: Implied violence; swearing

A/N: So the song says "her." I switched it to "him" so it would fit the pairing.

"_All of this and you still defend him."_

"...You can't be fucking serious." But Fran was quite serious from where he lay on his bed, staring boredly up at the strategy captain.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?" Fran questioned.

"Fuckin' brat!" Squalo snapped. "He damn near killed you!"

"Oh? I never noticed." The illusionist rolled his eyes. "He never meant to do this."

"All of this and you're still defending that idiot?" Fran sensed actual curiosity behind his words.

"Is that a problem?"

"He put your arm in a fucking sling, almost killed you via blood loss, and left you there. To fucking die." Squalo paused. Fran quirked an eyebrow. "Yes it's a fucking problem!"

"Then take it up with someone who cares." And that was all that had to be said because Squalo just sat back down in his chair after stringing out several colourful curse words. No one but Fran and Belphegor would understand one another in the way they did and that fact was slowly being accepted by the other Varia.

Slowly but surely.


	8. illusion

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _Illusion _by VNV Nation belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

Warning: M/M; Slight AU; Swearing

"_Each time you get hurt I don't want you to change because everyone has hopes – you're human, after all."_

Belphegor was angry.

Not angry, he was furious. Irate – incensed, if you will.

He'd taken that mission (that long-ass stupid mother-fucking _mission_) to get to Rasiel. To get to his brother – that's all he'd wanted to accomplish. Get near his brother, scout out his position, and find a way to _kill _the bastard once and for all.

But no.

As it turned out, Rasiel had been expecting him.

How the fuck in all of hell's half-creation did that moron of a fake king know he was going to be there? How did he know he was even looking, to begin with? And what was worse was that Belphegor – the _prince –_had been caught off guard and Rasiel had almost killed him.

Almost.

What got him was that his brother hadn't killed him. It was like Rasiel was saying, "Look! I could kill you, but I'm going to _let _you live on a whim." It was humiliating, infuriating, and disgraceful. He hated it – Belphegor _hated _it.

"Bel-senpai," That drawl was so fucking annoying. "You shouldn't put too many holes in the wall. You'll have to pay."

"You sound like Mammon, frog," He threw another knife at the wall and then one at the frog.

"Do I?" Fran pulled said knife from his arm, bent it, and dropped it at his feet.

"I told you not to do that," Belphegor hissed.

"I don't care," He retorted, watching – scrutinizing? – as the older boy threw another blade at the wall.

"Go jump off a roof." Belphegor snapped.

"No." Stab.

"Then get out of my room."

"No." Stab, stab.

"Get out of my fucking room!" The blonde stood to his full height; towering over Fran.

"Why?" To his credit, he didn't flinch.

"Why get out of my room?" The younger teen shook his head. "Then why what?"

"Why get your hopes up?" Fran asked and Belphegor blinked and crossed his arms.

"What are you–"

"You got your hopes up to kill your brother and you couldn't," Fran stated. "Why'd you even bother?"

"Is the frog stupid?" Belphegor's sneer came back. "The prince doesn't hope – he doesn't need to."

"Everyone has hopes," Fran corrected. "Even you, fake prince. You're human after all."

"...Annoying." He bit out between gritted teeth.

"But it's the truth, right?" Fran shrugged at him and Belphegor pulled out the knives he had since embedded in the younger boy's arms before shoving him to the door.

"Out," Fran went to turn around to fix him with a cynical stare but Belphegor didn't let him and– "I'm serious, I'll throw you out the window." –and Fran rather liked himself alive so he skittered out the door but not before hearing Belphegor mutter something about stupid frogs.


	9. i love the way you lie

**Disclaimer: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _Love the Way You Lie _by Eminem (ft Rihanna) belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

**Warning: **M/M; excessive swearing (Squalo)

**A/N: **Trying out a different approach. Looking at Belphegor and Fran's relationship from a different point of view.

"_Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano."_

He knew Belphegor hurt him beyond mere wounds – hell, _everyone _knew that much; but they didn't know the other half of the story. It takes two to start a fight and Fran was part of the problem, yet he wasn't blamed because he got the scars. But Belphegor didn't care about that. Never did, probably never would.

"Fuckin' brats, the two of them." He snapped to himself.

"Fran and Bel?" Squalo whipped around when Lussuria popped up beside him.

"Yes, those fuckin' brats." He went back to brooding on the stool by the kitchen table. "They're dumb-asses, the both of 'em." Lussuria gave a light laugh and took a seat beside Squalo.

"Is the strategy-captain... concerned?" The odd-haired man asked as Squalo choked on his own spit.

"The fuck!" _No _he was not, thank-you very much. "I don't care what they do!"

"Now, now," Lussuria cooed. "Don't deny it. We've all been concerned – especially for Bel-chan's stability-"

"You little -"

"And Fran's ability to deal with him." Alright, _alright. _So Lussuria could read minds, apparently – unfortunately.

"It's damn stupid." Squalo huffed. "Belphegor doesn't know the meaning of god-damned restraint and Fran just doesn't give a flying fuck!"

"Huh?" To his credit, Lussuria looked genuinely puzzled.

"Whattya mean _'huh'_?" Squalo demanded with a frown.

"Well, I mean," He began tapping a finger against his chin. "If Belphegor _didn't _show restraint, Fran would be did." He stated pointedly.

"That's diffe-"

"And if Fran _didn't _give a flying fuck, he wouldn't find Belphegor on his own time." Matter-a-fact.

"But they-"

"They've got weird dynamics, I agree," Lussuria didn't wait for Squalo to continue. "But they aren't as stupid as you assume, Squalo."

"_I fuckin' know-"_

"And sure, Bel-chan is like a constant tornado of trouble but Fran's a volcano just waiting to erupt. In the end, I think they're best to stay with each other-"

"_Stop fuckin' interrupting me, _you punk!" No one could say Squalo didn't scream like a banshee because Lussuria had just witnessed it first-hand.

"Squalo-dear, was that really necessary?" Lussuria asked with his hands against his ears.

"I'll kill you, bastard!" And thus Lussuria was chased from the kitchen to the fourth floor and down again. Not that anyone cared – it was just Lussuria, after all.

"The hell?" Belphegor quirked an eyebrow after nearly being run over by a giggling Lussuria and an absolutely furious Squalo.

"Don't think I wanna know." Fran drawled from where he stood beside the blond.

"Shishi, agreed," He slung an arm over the younger boy's shoulders as they made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen.


	10. when it rains

**Disclaimer: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _When It Rains _by Paramore belong to their rightful owners; I gain nothing from writing this.

**Warnings: **M/M • Possibly ooc

**Reviewers: **Thanks Lireach + Satii-da-Sength – and sorry about not thanking you guys earlier, I didn't realize I had review. Eheh.

"_Just say it again and mean it."_

They were standing outside the Varia HQ in the pouring rain, spitting words and spewing venom. An angry hiss, a fiercer growl. They would only show themselves that much to one another – no one else was privy to those kinds of emotions from either.

"I hate you." Belphegor snapped while brandishing a knife against the younger boy's neck.

"Glad the feelings mutual." A slow and a deliberate drawl, but Fran was irate. You could see it in his eyes and the way his eyebrows were knitting together.

"Doesn't it mean anything to you?" The knife was retracted but the anger was still clear on his face.

"What? _What _doesn't mean anything to me?" Fran's hands balled into fists at his sides.

"Never-fucking-mind." Belphegor whipped around and made to leave but the green-haired teen wouldn't have it. He made a messy grab for his shoulder and turned Belphegor to face him again.

"You never explain things! You always walk off like it doesn't make a difference!" And finally there was a sharp, snarling reaction on Fran's behalf. "Do you think I'm that stupid? Or are you just that big of an idiot?"

"Don't go there, _Fran,_" Belphegor sneered his name as he whipped out another knife and held Fran at an arms-length. "Because you don't trust me with your secrets so why should I trust you with mine?" A simple question – but a trap all the same.

"That's what this is about?" Exasperated. Like it didn't really matter that Fran didn't tell him things. "You're angry that I don't tell you things?"

"Is that a problem?" Belphegor challenged shifting the knife closer and forcing Fran to take a step back. "Or does that not matter at all?"

"You're such a..." He trailed off. He was tired of fighting. It was difficult to express emotion for such a long period of time without being readjusted to it. "Stop thinking so hard. What am I hiding?"

"Everything." Simple answer; impossible to decipher.

"Then say it again," Fran snapped, anger boiling over again.

"What?" Belphegor had since stopped sneering at him.

"Say you hate me and _mean it._" A silence, undeterred and choleric.

"I. _Hate you._" And it that wasn't contemptuous, Fran didn't know what was. So he gave a light shrug, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and walked away. The question remained, though, if Belphegor would retract his statement later on. It was always hard to tell.

Either way, it hurt just a little.


	11. so what i lied

**Disclaimer: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn and _So What I Lied _by Sick Puppies belong to their rightful owners – I gain nothing from writing this.

**Warning: **M/M • Swearing • AU (Fran isn't Mukuro's student)

**A/N: **Thank-you **ArashiKiri **and **Kishida Tsubasa **for reviewing – I'm glad people read this, hahah.

"_But the truth would've been suicide."_

Belphegor had known Fran for a few years – whether they were good years or bad was yet to be decided – and had since realized that the teal-haired boy didn't just _wear _his mask; he was the mask itself.

He came to realize this fact when he found out that Fran had originally been used as a genuine human weapon until the family he'd been trained by was taken down by the Millefiore.

He supposed it shouldn't have been such a shock – _really – _because it would explain why he kept himself to carefully composed of icy calm and certainty. But it still made him wonder what else the boy was hiding. Did he have any family or was he an orphan? Was he educated or was his intelligence just a well-disguised act?

"So why'd you lie?" Belphegor asked, grinning wildly.

"About what?" Fran drawled from beneath the old boy, hardly blinking as teeth marred his shoulder and a tongue ran over the bruised skin.

"About where you came from." Belphegor slid another hand up his shirt and ran those hands down his ribs leaving angry red marks in his wake. Fran arched just slightly into the feeling.

"I didn't lie." And he hadn't _really. _He'd just avoided the truth in a roundabout way.

"You didn't tell me." Belphegor argued with a sneer as he felt the subtle movement beneath him. In response he pressed his knee between Fran's legs, teasing.

"You didn't ask." The teal-haired teen retorted, shooting him a pointed look as he moved his knee up. Teasing was unfair.

"You should have told me anyway." Belphegor declared with a derisive stare that quite clearly said he wanted to know why he hadn't been informed. Fran didn't have an answer so he merely slid his eyes to the left and tried to figure why Belphegor cared, anyway. It wasn't like it made a whole lot of difference. "I hate when you do that." The blonde announced, grabbing him by the jaw and forcibly turning his eyes toward him.

"Do what?" Because he supposed he wanted to know.

"Act like no one should give a shit." He didn't quite know what Belphegor meant by that but it didn't matter because his lips were the only thing that really registered at that point - conflicted and angry. They tasted like all those emotions Fran found himself unable to show. It hurt in a way. Just a little; but it still hurt that he couldn't really be so reckless. He was taught to be contained and unbreakable. That's what he was - no questions asked.

To Belphegor, Fran was everything opposite he thought he was and it was intriguing. A simple game - but one he couldn't control.


End file.
